So, moving into a new house you've got to put in some elbow grease to prepare what few things you can plant in the early weeks of October. I arrived at a yard covered in weeds, waist high, and soil filled with big stones, hefty tree stumps, roots beyond roots, and, sadly, loads of broken glass. With a fork, a wheelie bin, new compost bin and a knife to get in the crannies of the old uneven slab work, pesky weed roots ! This picture may not seem too impressive - red wellies aside, which are obviously impressive - but that soil is looking immense considering it's starting position, I wish I'd taken a 'before' picture!

Make sure your soil is well dug over, remove all debris, save greenery, chopped weeds and little roots for the compost, but unfortunately some roots and tree stumps might be too large for the compost and might have to go in the bin; or you could save them for a fire in the future, leave to try and enjoy at a later date ! In terms of "saving the planet"; or, furthermore, the conditions for human life on this sphere we call earth, I truly believe that getting deep down and dirty and back to gardening, urban, rural, small or large scale, or otherwise, is the first step and the way to go for almost everyone. Composting is the simplest thing you can do. I'll expand on this theory at a later stage, and I'll give you some more hints, tips, journal entries and general garden fettering in the future. Hope you'll stick with me on Henshaw's Horticultural Blog, what have I planted? Seedlings?? Forking good times???